Home | Kristin 4 Moncton - Ward 2 Candidate

I’m Kristin Cavoukian, and I live right here in Ward 2. I’m running for Moncton City Councillor because Ward 2 needs strong, serious, and proactive leadership. Since 2022 I’ve served on the Anglophone East District Education Council, where I defended French Immersion and was the go-to media contact in the high-profile fight for a fair Policy 713. I’m a political scientist lecturing at Mount Allison University, and you may have heard my thoughts about City Hall during my years on CBC’s “City Views.”

Please scroll down this page to learn more about me, and please look around my campaign site to read about my platform and vision for a transparent, safe, and thriving Ward 2.

Kristin Cavoukian with Raffi, Ken, and Ben

Dr. Kristin Cavoukian teaches political science courses at Mount Allison University and Saint Thomas University and serves in local education governance on the Anglophone East District Education Council—where she represents and advocates for teachers, administrators, and parents at Edith Cavell, Wabanaki, Bessborough, Hillcrest, Beaverbrook, Lewisville, and Bernice McNaughton High School. Kristin was at the forefront of the fight against the Higgs government’s proposed elimination of French Immersion and later, against reckless changes to Policy 713. Monctonians heard Kristin discussing municipal politics for over two years as part of CBC Radio Information Morning’s “City Views” panel, a role she recently stepped away from to run for City Council. Kristin has also kept busy picking and singing bluegrass music at festivals throughout Atlantic Canada with bands such as The Sunny Mountain Gals and The Hound Dog Ramblers.

Kristin is the first Cavoukian born on Canadian soil, and her family is an immigrant-Canadian success story. Her father, Onnig, took over his father and grandfather’s colour portraiture business, photographing everyone from Queen Elizabeth to Leonid Brezhnev to Joni Mitchell. Her uncle Raffi of “Baby Beluga” fame is loved by kids of all ages and is a tireless advocate for children. Her aunt, Dr. Ann Cavoukian, is a world-renowned expert on data and privacy by design and the former Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. On the other side of the family, Kristin grew up with grandparents who lived in the country, grew food, kept beehives, and made maple syrup, so she spent summers breathing fresh air and getting dirt under her fingernails. Kristin lives in Ward 2 with her husband, daughter, and pet dog, Daisy.

Kristin Cavoukian running for ward 2 in Moncton

A year spent living in post-Soviet Armenia inspired Kristin to study political science, and she went on to earn a BA at Carleton University, an MA at the University of British Columbia, and a PhD at the University of Toronto. Her areas of expertise are nationalist movements and diaspora politics in the former Soviet Union. She taught comparative politics and international relations at the University of Toronto Mississauga for a decade before moving to Moncton. She now teaches part time at both Mount Allison University and Saint Thomas University.

Kristin has presented at numerous academic conferences and published academic journal articles and book chapters, including the following:

2021. “Democratization and Diaspora: The Velvet Revolution and the Armenian Nation Abroad.” Armenia’s Velvet Revolution: Authoritarian Decline and Civil Resistance in a Multipolar World. Anna Ohanyan and Laurence Broers, eds. London: I. B. Tauris. 201-230.

(With Nona Shahnazaryan) 2018. “Women’s Political Participation in the Republic of Armenia.” Global Handbook on Women’s Political Rights. Netina Tan, Susan Franceschet, and Mona Lena Krook, eds. London: Palgrave. 729-743.

2013. “‘Soviet Mentality?’ The Role of Shared Political Culture in Relations between the Armenian State and Russia’s Armenian Diaspora.” Nationalities Papers 41,5: 709-729.

In addition to her academic teaching, Kristin has supply taught in public schools, and was the Director of Programs and Development for the non-profit organization Canadian Parents for French NB.

Kristin’s District Education Council (DEC) work has allowed her to build strong connections with Anglophone East schools in Ward 2, helping them with school improvement planning, and advocating for them at the district level regarding safety issues and building upkeep needs. She has served on the Provincial Curriculum and Evaluation Advisory Committee, attended provincial DEC symposia, and presented awards to teachers and students across New Brunswick.

Kristin was proud to serve on the Naming Committee for Moncton's newest school. She ensured Indigenous elders from the region were included in the process, resulting in the meaningful name "Wabanaki"—honoring the area's Indigenous history and the district's commitment to reconciliation.

Along with her academic work at the university level, Kristin has worked as a permit supply teacher in local schools and engages in academic outreach, including her "Senior Session" political science talk at a Moncton seniors' residence this January. An avid vegetable gardener, she tended plots in a community garden for 14 years and now grows food in her prolific front-yard garden in Ward 2—a simple way to connect with neighbours, spark conversations, and strengthen community ties.

Kristin Cavoukian with the Sunny Mountain Gals

Kristin has been playing guitar and singing in bands since she was a teenager. She performed weekly for over a decade with the Toronto-based bluegrass band Houndstooth and toured across Canada with bluegrass duo The Saturday Saints. Kristin has performed and recorded with her uncle Raffi, the renowned children’s troubadour, and her harmony singing can be heard on dozens of bluegrass and roots music albums.

Kristin has performed at festivals and venues throughout Atlantic Canada with Maritime bluegrass bands The Sunny Mountain Gals and The Hound Dog Ramblers, and as a duo with her Dobro-playing husband, Ivan Rosenberg. Kristin has written articles for Bluegrass Canada magazine and album reviews for Exclaim!, and she served as a judge for the 2017 JUNO Awards.

Photo - Janice Ring

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